Description

TQ 64 SE BRENCHLEY GEDGES HILL

6/84 Maynards

GV II

House. Circa mid C15 in origin; circa early C17 remodelling. House truncated
at the north end, which was rebuilt in the 1930s when a rear wing was added
and a programme of general renovation carried out. Framed construction, the
ground floor underbuilt in brick, the first floor tile-hung; peg-tile roof;
brick stacks. The 1930s additions are in matching materials.

Plan: The house faces west. The core of the building is a circa mid C15 open
hall house with a 2-bay hall and a one-bay storeyed south end. The hall has
been truncated at the north end at an unknown date. The putative cross
passage and lower end may have been rebuilt in the C17 judging from a
secondary crossframe at the north end of the early house. Hall stack and
floor probably inserted in the late C16/early C17. A rear stair projection is
probably mid C17 and contemporary with raising the roof of the south end to
provide better access to the attic. A 1920s photograph in the possession of
the owner shows the house before the 1930s additions. These involved
rebuilding the north end of the house to provide a kitchen and adding a rear
right wing at right angles adjoining the main block at the south east corner
providing an extra principal room. The house was refenestrated and bays added
to the front elevation. A new entrance was made on the right (south) end of
the main block, the porch in the angle between the main block and new rear
wing.

Exterior: 2 storeys and attic. Roof gabled at ends; axial stack with
staggered triple shaft with a corbelled brick cornice. Asymmetrical 4-window
front with 2 1930s 2 storey gabled bays, one to right of centre and one to the
far right. Set of 1930s 2- and 3-light casements with diamond leaded panes; 3
gabled attic dormers. French window to the left hand of the 2 gabled bays.
1930s oak door on the right (south) return. The stair projection on the rear
elevation has a gabled roof. Outshut alongside to the north with a catslide
roof. The 1930s additions are in a Vernacular Revival style: the right
(south) return of the 1930s rear wing has a gabled bay with brick nogging laid
in herringbone patterns and a rear projection off the new north end of the
house is jettied to the rear.

Interior: Rich in C15 and circa late C16/early C17 carpentry. The hall in
the centre retains the moulded dais beam from the medieval phase. Late
C16/early C17 step-stopped beam on the long axis with step-stopped joists;
open fireplace with chamfered brick jambs and a chamfered oak lintel. The
right hand (south) room has a roughly-chamfered crossbeam, half the medieval
joists, of massive scantling, survive intact. The chamber over the hall
retains its ceiling beams, matching those of the hall below. The frame of the
late C16/early C17 rear window of the chamber, now internal, survives in the
axial first floor passage and retains sockets for diagonally-set mullions.
The medieval wall-framing, visible on the first floor, has wallposts with
flared jowls and tension braces. Secondary, taller posts have been added to
the frame of the southern end of the house to raise the first floor ceiling
and accommodate the upper flight of the stair in the projection which has a
straight flight from the ground floor and a winder to the attic rooms. The
northern cross frame, just north of the inserted stack is separate from the
medieval frame.

Roof: The medieval roof survives as far as the inserted hall stack. It is a
crown post arrangement, the hall crown post is octagonal with a moulded
capital, chamfered base and 3-way up-bracing, one brace truncated by the
stack. A plain post survives in the higher end partition. The timbers over
the hall are heavily-sooted.

A late medieval house with well-preserved carpentry.

Listing NGR: TQ6646242373

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26554430

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)